Scholar Kerry Stevens

 

 

 

St Helenian student, Kerry Stevens is currently studying towards a Foundation Degree in Business with the North Hertfordshire College/Hertfordshire University. She is now in her second year of study and after this she will go on to study towards a full degree in Business, sponsored by the Education Department, which will take her another year to complete.

 

Recently, Kerry has been looking at performance management and financial accounting and she has also found a work placement with a local company on a marketing and human resources project. Students are often placed in the working environment as part of their studies and for Kerry this will count towards her final grade. Her tutor has said that she is showing enthusiasm on this project and that she continues to be a shining example to her colleagues.

 

Her results have been positive and with a Degree in Business, Kerry would be ideally suited to any business related post on St Helena. A Degree in Business can also help candidates to set up their own business or they could take up a career as a Business Studies Teacher and this is the career of Kerry’s choice. In general, the course is designed to provide students with a broad perspective of the business world.

 

The UK Scholarships Placements Coordinator said that Kerry continues to work with confidence.

 

Further articles on scholars will follow.

 

Ref: www.nhc.ac.uk

 

 

Public Relations/Information Office

Office of the Chief Secretary

30 June 2004

 

 

ST HELENA ACCESS UPDATE

 

 

ARRIVAL OF ATKINS RESEARCH CONSULTANTS

 

 

Following the topographical survey work of Steve Proctor and his team, the geotechnical study of the proposed alignment and road access areas at Prosperous Bay Plain conducted by Liz Harrison is now almost complete.  The drilling is expected to finish on Monday, 5^th July and Liz will leave the island on the following Monday, 12^th July.

 

Meanwhile the feasibility study, as requested by HMG Ministers, is continuing to push ahead and on Monday, the 5^th July, we’ll see the arrival of the Atkins Social, Economic, Institutional and Environmental research team. 

 

There are several objectives to be covered in this phase of the study in relation to air and sea access options including:

 

•  Identifying the environmental issues associated with each option and to comment on whether it is possible to mitigate each adequately against any negative impacts;
• The gathering of information that allows appropriate estimates of the likely levels of economic development that could result through the various access options;
• Assessing the foreseeable impact on the various public and private sector institutions relevant to each option;
• Developing an in-depth understanding of the social impacts and community-based concerns related to the various options.

 

This comprehensive piece of work will also take into account the views of Saints living on the Ascension and Falkland Islands, around Cape Town as well as in the UK.

 

On her way to St Helena, Pauline Airey (social specialist), spent a week on the Falkland Islands and several days on Ascension focusing on the social research objective. She has met with various people and held a number of group discussions with Saints on both islands.   The other members of the team Neil Crumbie (team leader who will lead on the Institutional research), David Whitwell (Economics), and Ian Mathieson (Environment) joined Pauline on Ascension for the final leg of the journey to St Helena.

 

A busy programme has been planned for the week the consultants spend on-island and during this time, they will also conduct a series of interviews and small group discussions. The focus of these sessions is to gather views, opinions and information which will later be distilled to aid the decision-making process. 

 

Whilst it is not possible for the consultants to meet with everyone in the short timeframe available, we would be happy to try and arrange a meeting for any members of the public who wish to put their views forward.  Interested persons can contact me, Sharon Wainwright, on telephone number 2477. 

 

If a meeting cannot be arranged, you are invited to send your views by email to: [email protected]

 

Or by post to:

 

Mr Hamish Tullock

Atkins Management Consultants

Woodcote Grove

Ashley Road

Epsom

Surrey KT18 5BW

 

Following their visit to St Helena, the research team will meet with Saints in Cape Town as well as leading figures in the tourism business.  On their return to the UK, they intend to hold at least three Saint group meetings in the proposed areas of Swindon, London and Southampton.

 

The public will be kept updated on progress.

 

 

 

 

Sharon R Wainwright

Air Access Project Coordinator     

 

 

 

 

Printing Services to be rendered

By Investors from Namibia

 

 

Two inward investors will be managing the St Helena Government Printing Office with effect from October/ November this year.

 

Jurgen and Johanna Wolf from Namibia were on St Helena in September of last year when they entered into discussions with SHG and the St Helena Development Agency about taking over the Printing Office. They have now signed a joint venture agreement with the St Helena Government to do this. The Joint Venture will run for a period of 12 to 18 months, and after this, it will become a private sector business operated solely by the Investors.

 

In speaking about the new development, Acting Deputy Secretary, Gillian Francis said “This is good news for St Helena. It is the intention of the investors to develop and expand the services currently on offer at the Printing Office. At the moment, some of our large print runs of high quality brochures and posters are done overseas. This will no longer be necessary when the new venture is in full operation. The investors are the owners of a print establishment in Namibia and will be able to bring with them new skills and up to date printing equipment.”

 

Jurgen Wolf said “after having set up shop and installed everything, we intend to have an open-house-day for all interested members of the public and potential clients.”

 

The operations will be the sole responsibility of the investors, but during the period of the Joint Venture they will be managed by a board comprising two SHG representatives and two representatives of the investors. The board will be responsible for monitoring the operation, including its financial standing.

 

The St Helena Government Printing Office currently provides a service to Government Departments as well as the private sector and members of the public. This will continue under the new Joint Venture. The business will continue to operate from Ladder Hill in the first instance.

 

The decision to eventually privatise the printing office was taken because SHG wants to withdraw from any activity which could be managed by the private sector.

 

Government Economist, Adrian Green said that this will be of benefit to the Island’s economy since “it will bring a much needed expert with high level vocational training skills to a key service business that could substantially expand the breadth of services on offer locally.” In the long run it is hoped that an expanding business will also mean the creation of employment opportunities on Island.

 

Public Relations/Information Office

Office of the Chief Secretary

30 June 2004

 

 

Update on recruitment of personnel

For Technical Co-operation Posts.

 

There has been some progress towards filling senior posts within the St Helena Government.

 

Chief Personnel Officer, Barbara George advised that after advertising, interviewing and conducting workshops three preferred candidates have been selected for the posts of Attorney General, Financial Secretary & Chief Auditor. She went on to say that the recruitment has taken far longer than SHG would have liked but she is glad that we are just a step away from filling our Technical Co-operation posts and hopes that the candidates will arrive on the Island as soon as possible.

Barbara said that she is unable to give any names at this point in time as all three candidates will still need to undergo Security and Medical checks before being accepted unconditionally.

 

The short listed candidates were interviewed by DFID Personnel, including SHG UK Representative, Mrs Kedell Worboys.

 

The posts of Attorney General & Financial Secretary are currently being filled in an acting capacity as has been the case for some time, and Barbara said credit should be given to those who took on the additional workload and responsibilities to ensure the work is ongoing.

 

In addition to these posts, SHG now has DFID’s approval to reinstate the post of Crown Counsel in our Legal Lands & Planning Department. The duties of the post are wide ranging and, will include prosecuting, civil litigation and contributing to drafting legislation, to name a few.  The last Crown Counsel for St Helena was Edwin Goldsborough who completed his contract in 1995.  Reinstating this post is a positive step for SHG and St Helena as a whole: as the Island develops there will be an increasing demand for qualified Lawyers.  This is also good news for our Legal Department, as with their increasing workload, another set of capable hands will ease the burden currently being experienced. 

 

 

 

Public Relations/Information Office

Office of the Chief Secretary

30^TH June 2004.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It could be in your Jeans.

 

SHG promotes Diabetes awareness with ‘Denim for Diabetes’.

 

 

 

St Helena celebrated Diabetes week from the 13^th – 19^th of June. The aim of having a diabetes week was to promote awareness of the disease and to encourage the public to educate themselves on the symptoms, treatment and how to cope with the disease.

 

St Helena Government, Schools and other companies were encouraged by Community Nurses to have a ‘Denim’ day. The idea was for employees/students to donate an optional sum of money to the diabetes fund and to choose a day when they would wear an item of denim clothing instead of their normal work clothing or uniforms.  SHG fully supported this promotional activity and so far have raised £200. (there is still some money to be collected).  This money will be donated to the Diabetes Association who will use these funds to contribute to the purchasing of blood glucose monitoring machines & other necessary equipment for diabetic patients.

 

The Community Nurses are to be congratulated for their efforts on promoting diabetes awareness, Cheryl Bedwell (Health Promotion Co-ordinator) was pleased to say that the response this year was much better than in previous years. Some 150 people attended the Community Nursing screening stalls and on a positive note – less people were diagnosed with diabetes this year. This could be a sign that education and early screening programmes are actually helping as a preventative.

 

 Denim day was a good opportunity for non-diabetics to show their colleagues/peers that they are aware of the disease and fully support those who are diabetic.  If you supported diabetes awareness by wearing your denim gear, you did it with style!

 

Public Relations/Information Office

Office of the Chief Secretary

30^TH June 2004